DURBAN (SA) – The SA Footwear and Leather Export Council (SAFLEC) is to approach the DTI to reconsider sponsoring a national pavilion at the Moda Footwear show in Birmingham.

SAFLEC chairman Rodney Reynders said the DTI was sponsoring a national pavilion at the WSA show in Las Vegas in August, but SAFLEC felt it would be more productive to return to Birmingham. The last SA national stand in Birmingham was in 2005, though individual companies have continued to show there.
“We were getting momentum in the UK,” Reynders said, “and we believe we should focus on that market for the next five or six years, to really make an impression. Those who’ve made it there are continuing in their own capacity, but we believe more of the local industry could benefit from that show, with DTI assistance.”
He said previous national pavilions in Las Vegas, however, had been “lost in the overall size of the show”.
“Las Vegas is organised by footwear category, and we think it might be better there to have individual stands, in product-specific areas, or perhaps rather to target smaller, product-specific fairs like hunting.”
He said DTI policy was to sponsor a project for a period of time, then move on to another one, “but they’re receptive to other ideas.”